By BRENDAN J. LYONS Senior writer

Published 1:00 am, Saturday, October 3, 2009

TROY — A Troy Housing Authority employee whose name surfaced in an unfolding absentee voter scandal abruptly resigned from his job on Friday.

Anthony DeFiglio, who oversaw vacant housing for the housing authority's various complexes, submitted an e-mail correspondence to a housing authority official stating he was resigning effective immediately, said Jay Vandenburgh, vice chairman of the housing authority's board of commissioners.

DeFiglio could not be reached for comment. His resignation took place the same day that state Supreme Court Justice Michael C. Lynch issued an order striking down 39 absentee ballots of voters whose information had been forged on their ballots or the applications used to obtain them.

Some of the people said DeFiglio and other Democratic officials visited them during the past several weeks and asked them to sign applications for absentee ballots. But a review of the documents, and testimony during a hearing Thursday before Lynch, showed that much of the information, including signatures and the reasons why certain voters couldn't vote in person, had been forged.

Some of the voters said they never received or filled out ballots even though they were later filed under their names at the Rensselaer County Board of Elections. At least two ballots were filed under the names of people who have not lived in Troy for more than a year, including a woman who now lives in South Florida.

In an 8-page ruling, Lynch wrote: ''Finally, the court recognizes that the testimony and affidavits reveal significant election law violations ... that have compromised the rights of numerous voters and the integrity of the election process in the Working Family's Party September 15, 2009 primary.''

Lynch said a copy of the hearing transcript will be forwarded to a special prosecutor assigned to investigate the ballot scandal.

DeFiglio's resignation came six days after his housing authority office and computer were locked down by a housing authority official after the allegations were publicly revealed in the Times Union.

Trey Smith, a former assistant district attorney appointed as a special prosecutor in the case, seized the absentee ballot documents on Tuesday afternoon with assistance from two investigators with the Rensselaer County District Attorney's Office. Smith is expected to seek help in the investigation from the State Police or FBI.

Two of the ballots were validated by Lynch's ruling. The judge said those voters indicated at Thursday's hearing that they had signed both their absentee applications and the sealed envelopes that contained their ballots.

The case centers on allegations by dozens of city residents, many of whom live in public housing complexes, that information, including some signatures, were forged on election ballot documents filed in connection with the Working Families Party primary, which has been a battleground party line for the city's Republican and Democratic parties dating back years.

Normally, absentee ballots are only released to the voter or someone listed on their ballot application as authorized to pick it up for them.

It's unclear who picked up the ballots, and later filed them, at the county board of elections. In at least one case a voter told investigators that someone posing as them cast a ballot in person at the board of elections on the day before the primary. Others said no one ever came back with their ballot.

Brendan J. Lyons can be reached at 454-5547 or by e-mail at blyons@timesunion.com.